1. Field of the Invention
The inventions relates in general to the attachment of an accessory to a trim panel, and in particular to a trim panel with an integrally formed attachment member for mounting an acoustic device, such as a loudspeaker, an exciter, a piezoelectric transducer or the like, to the trim panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
An acoustic device, such as an electrodynamic exciter, applies bending wave energy to a trim panel to cause the trim panel to resonate and produce an acoustic output. Typically, the exciter comprises a magnet assembly rigidly fixed to a housing to define an annular gap, and a voice coil and coil former assembly disposed in the annular gap and rigidly fixed to the trim panel near to the geometric center thereof.
Typically, the acoustic device is mounted to the trim panel by using a separate mounting member, such as a mounting plate, that is fixedly attached to the trim panel using one or more fasteners, such as screws, or the like. After the separate mounting member is fixedly attached to the trim panel, such as by bonding, the acoustic device can be attached to the trim panel. However, the need for a separate mounting member and the time required to fixedly attach the separate mounting member to the trim panel increases the overall cost associated with mounting the acoustic device to the trim panel.